


Till Death Rips Us Apart

by QRTZ



Category: State of Decay (Video Game)
Genre: Blood and Gore, Canon-Typical Violence, Explicit Language, F/F, Zombie Apocalypse, Zombies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:13:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26055505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QRTZ/pseuds/QRTZ
Summary: Its been five years since the zombie apocalypse began. Janessa, like other survivors, struggles to survive in a world dominated by the undead. Struggling with her past, it makes Janessa's fight for survival difficult. But little does she or anyone else know... new dangers lurk on the horizon.
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Female Character, Original Female Character/Original Male Character
Comments: 5
Kudos: 8





	1. A Day In The Life

A loud, piercing howl echoed outside. Janessa crept to the attic window slowly, careful not to let her worn combat boots and the floorboards under her give her position away. The woman gingerly slid her fingers onto the small sill of the window, and ever-so-gently lifted herself up. Outside in the middle of the snow covered street the creature slowly prowled, with eyes that have a slight-bluish glow to them, long claw-like hands, tattered rags, all muscles, and yellowish-white skin.  _ A feral. A normal one anyways, not one of those plague fuckers. Even though three years ago, groups of survivors popped up and took out those plague hearts and drove the plague away in some areas with success. The plague has ravaged more areas now. With no one out here trying to control it, that’s made it spiral more and more out of control.  _

BANG! BANG! BANG! Janessa replayed the three successive shots in her head.  _ Pistol. Small-caliber. Sounded like a 9mm.  _ She watched as the feral threw its head back and made that piercing cry again. It bolted off into a predatory stride towards the direction of the gunshots.  _ Looks like whoever made all that racket has bad company headed their way. Might be high time to relocate elsewhere.  _ The woman backed away from the window and crammed all of her belongings into her backpack. She lifted up the hatch leading down into the house, and gently lowered her head to listen.  _ No footsteps or noises. All clear then. _ Using her strong arms, Janessa eased herself towards the ground below her, after extending the full length of her body, she dropped to the floor as gently as she could manage. 

Creaking floorboards and ruined rugs occupied the house Janessa stood in. She slowly walked through and observed the varied conditions of the framed pictures on the walls. Family photos stained with old blood, wrinkled, ruined wedding photos, and lots of faces indistinguishable. Faces belonging to people long-gone, alive, or… zombified. She made her way to the kitchen, and saw a hunched skeleton at the kitchen table by the window. The afternoon sun shined right onto the sad soul with tattered blood-stained clothes.  _ Lotta ghosts in here. _ Janessa made her way to the kitchen cabinets and quietly began hunting for dinner.  _ Last two cabinets…  _ At first glance the cabinet looked empty, but the woman stuck her hand further in the cabinet. Out came two cans, one was Spam and the other was baked beans.

Janessa smiled to herself, and pocketed the cans into her jacket.  _ Jackpot.  _ The bathroom was in a sorry state too. The bathroom medicine cabinet opened with a creak.  _ Bandage roll, two individual packs of gauze, calamine lotion, Ibuprofen, Aspirin, and… Viagra.  _ Janessa took off her backpack and put the bandage roll, gauze, and lotion in it. She grabbed the pill bottles and gently shook both. The Ibuprofen was empty, and the aspirin bottle only had six pills in it. The aspirin bottle was placed into the same pocket as the other medicine that Janessa kept on her. With her bag situated on her back, the woman crept through the back door of the house. 

_ No company.  _ Janessa strolled through the decrepit house’s backyard. After a quick survey of the country suburbs, she spotted a house that she could shack up in.  _ Looks like I’ve got a bit of a walk ahead of me.  _

Two guests were inside the house, but after they were dealt with Janessa hurried to find the entrance to the attic of the new house. After she found it, she climbed the ladder as fast as she could and pulled it back up with her.  _ Finally a moment to breathe.  _ Janessa gently exhaled. With her backpack off, she started to set up preparations for dinner. Janessa pulled out her cooking set.  _ Glad I found this thing.  _ She put one of the fuel pods in and sat patiently for her beans to warm up.

Snow began to fall outside, and Janessa quietly watched it along with the setting sun.  _ Calm before the storm, huh? Still have to wait for spring to get my bike out of its hiding place.  _ The woman looked off towards the woods.  _ I’ll have to check on it soon.  _

Once she got the chance, the woman scarfed down both the baked beans and the Spam. After all of her stuff was put away, Janessa laid down and stared at the ceiling of the attic.  _ Tomorrow’s another day.  _

Janessa groaned and slowly opened her eyes. Raising her upper body, she gently rubbed her face and eyes. Looking at the stained glass of the attic window, Janessa knew how much it snowed outside.  _ Dios mio. I heard that the snow was worse up North, but I didn’t know it was this bad. But living in Dallas doesn’t give one much thought about snow.  _ She stood up and looked out the window.  _ That’s about five and a half feet. Looks like I’ll be stuck here for a while. ‘Lease the zombies are stuck too. I’m still in my bed clothes, but… I might as well search the house for stuff to use.  _ The woman walked to her pile of clothes and pulled her K-bar and hand-crank/solar powered flashlight out of her thermal jacket.  _ Got to be careful if I missed anybody.  _ On her way out, she grabbed an empty shoulder bag.  _ This thing looks atrocious, but gotta have something to put my shit in.  _

The hatch of the attic opened with a hollow, pitiful squeak. Janessa slowly fed the ladder towards the ground and made it quietly touch the floor.  _ I’ve got this floor and the first floor. Let’s do this.  _ All was relatively quiet, except for the fact that the wind outside roared. 

_ Alright, last room and this floor’s clear.  _ Janessa grabbed the door knob and deftly turned it.  _ Oh, the curtains are open. Let’s… oh god.  _ The woman stared at the lost soul on the bedroom floor, all skin and bones, broken legs, slow-moving arms, and glassy eyes. But the part that stands out above it all is that this zed couldn’t be more than 10-years-old.  _ Jesus Christ.  _ Janessa looked around the room and saw all the old blood stains near the boy. “You didn’t deserve this.” Her voice was quiet, low, and shaky. The boy made pitiful, raspy, and sad groans in response. The woman quickly jabbed her knife into the back of his skull and gently pulled it out.  _ Rest now, kid. Nobody deserves to go out the way you did.  _ Janessa quickly searched the room and left as soon as she was done.

The door gently closed with a squeak. Janessa made her way down the stairs to the first floor.  _ I should check the rooms for unwelcome company first and then search.  _ After her check, Janessa began her search. 

With her search finished, she made her way back up the ladder to the attic. With her ladder ritual finished, Janessa dumped her loot unto the attic floor.  _ Let’s see what we’ve got here. Two cans of green beans. Two small cans of baked beans. So, I’ve got portions to work with. Tin of sardines. Mental note: Use when desperate. Mini tube of B-B-Q Pringles. Unopened? Unopened. Fuck yes. Two cans of chicken noodle soup. Can of corn. Last in the food department, a can of peaches. Oh hell yeah. This house had some good shit. I got real lucky this time. _

Janessa put her food aside and kept going with her haul.  _ Let’s see here. Okay. Some Ibuprofen. Still has half the bottle almost, so about 40? More bandages and gauze. Ah fuck it. I’ll sort the rest of this stuff later. I have plenty of time judging by the weather outside.  _ The woman grabbed a random book off of the shelf of the attic and blew the dust off of it. “Candide by Voltaire.” Janessa flipped the book over. “ _ Oh boy _ , do I  _ love _ me a good bit of satire.” The winds began to howl once more, and the woman flopped down on her impromptu bed roll. She turned her head to the window once more.  _ Another day in a life in the apocalypse.  _


	2. Indoor Exploration and Moving On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With a nightmare that awakes her, Janessa decides to further explore the house and see what it has to offer. The next day, she moves on, continuing her journey.

Janessa felt a wave of heat surround her, along with gunfire and explosions in the distance that pierced her ears. There was so much screaming, and when she lifted her hands they were covered in various shades of red. A body laid on the ground before her. It was Lawson, a friend and fellow soldier. Janessa grabbed for the radio at her belt. “Sergeant! This is Alvarez, can you read me!?” She ran her hands down Lawson’s torso to see where he was hit. She held two fingers to his neck and that action told her what she already feared. 

With a click and static of the radio in her left hand, Janessa heard her sergeant bellowing orders on the other side. He finally spoke to the radio, “What is it, Alvarez!? Have you two reached your position!? We’re getting our asses handed to us down here!” 

“No sir! We were ambushed! Lawson’s dead!” The silence that followed felt far longer than what it actually was. The sergeant finally spoke up, “Alvarez, we have to retreat! Without the both of you, this plan won’t work! Besides, I think these assholes have already caught on to us!” She heard lots of gunfire as her sergeant spoke. “See if you can grab Lawson and meet us at where we landed!” Janessa’s reply was as cold as her stare. “Yes-sir.” The woman put Lawson’s body over her shoulder, steading her breath, she started on her way. 

In one swift motion her eyes flipped open and she lifted herself up. Janessa tried to catch her breath.  _ It was just a dream. Calm down.  _ The window of the attic still had frost covered at its corners, and the sun was barely in the sky. Looking up at the roof of the attic, Janessa flopped back down into her sleeping bag. Focused on her breathing, all she could hear was the sound of the wind beating against the walls of the decrepit, suburban house. There wasn’t much else. After a while, boredom took over so Janessa tilted her head in the direction of the old, musty boxes in the corner of the attic. Because she could smell the age of the boxes from where she was laying. Though she came to the conclusion that opening them may not be the best idea. Grabbing her knife, Janessa decided to go and explore the house again. Only wearing a thin pair of thermal pants and a shirt, the woman slipped on her boots and then delicately opened the attic’s hatch. 

Janessa gently crept down the ancient wooden stairs. She walked down the unexplored hallway that passed the kitchen, with her knife in hand. The last door of the hallway opened with a high, wispy creak.  _ Huh. Sounds like a bird. I remember it… I think?  _ Janessa paused and dragged her hand down her face in mild frustration.  _ Ah! The Bush-tit. That’s the one.  _ The room before her was the epitome of a teenage boy’s room. At least it didn’t have the smell of body spray and body odor. It was just musty, like the rest of the house. The woman sauntered over to the closet in the corner of the room. She flung the door open in case anything was inside. Luckily, it was just clothing, shoes, and a few hats. Janessa grabbed a box that was at the front of the closet. It still had tape on it surprisingly, and a homemade envelope was attached. 

Opening the envelope, the woman figured that the person that this note was for is long gone or will never come back for it anyways. The handwriting was very neat and pretty, you could tell that it belonged to a woman. 

_ ‘To whoever's reading this, today marks a year since the outbreak. My son would have turned 20 today and I’ll never be able to celebrate with him again. So to whomever this may be, let the gift that was meant for my son be for you. Take care of yourself out there. Sincerely, Linda Cartwright.’  _

Janessa sat down on the bed and placed the note beside her. She cut the tape on the box carefully with her knife.  _ That note’s about four years old. I wonder if what’s in here is even in good condition?  _ The woman pulled off the lid of the box and it revealed a pullover hoodie. It was one of those ‘Lifeguard’ hoodies in an army green. It had Panama City Beach, Florida in small letters on the front. It was a thick piece of clothing too. Another item was in the box and it was a thick black beanie. The woman put the beanie in the pocket of the hoodie and put it over her shoulder. Janessa looked at the note on the bed and said her silent ‘thank you’ to it and left the room. 

The next room was the bathroom that was already scouted, but the next room after that had not been. Janessa slowly opened the door, and no guests were inside. It was a family room. Bookshelves, a broken TV, a computer desk, board games, and multiple pieces of furniture that have seen better days filled the room in quiet mustiness. Sauntering over to the bookshelves, the woman picked up one of the larger books. With a gentle hand, Janessa dusted the book off and opened it while trying not to sneeze.  _ ‘North American Birds and Their Subspecies.’ Hm. Author’s name has faded. It isn’t even close to legible.  _ Janessa decided she had enough of the indoor exploring, after grabbing her book she retreated back into the attic of the house. 

Janessa placed all of her loot from her exploration near her rucksack. She quickly peeked out of the attic window laid back down onto sleeping back. Looking at the window, the woman mumbled to herself, “Maybe I’ll leave tomorrow. Snow will only be six inches anyway. Won’t be as hard to walk as it was three days ago.” She looked over to the items near her bag.  _ Maybe there’s some dryer sheets still in the house. Might get the mustiness out.  _ The woman reckoned that she could use the book she picked up as a distraction for the time being. Just until tomorrow comes. 

The sun shined brightly through the window and Janessa flinched and groaned as she attempted to open her eyes. With a quick, exasperated breath Janessa lifted herself up and started to pack her gear and dress herself. With everything tightly, but orderly packed into her bag she finished tying her lace-up, black combat boots. Janessa opened the attic’s door for the last time and climbed down it. Opening the front door, the frost bit at her face. Thanks to that beanie she found, it didn’t bite at her ears this time. “Oh.” The woman pulled her braid from out of the back of her jacket and started on her way. As she got further and further down the driveway of the house, Janessa noticed an unfortunate soul in the middle of the road and decided to get closer. Upon further investigation, the woman observed that the zed was frozen. Not completely solid, but enough for it to not move it looked like. The zeds eyes flicked over to her and she slightly recoiled, unsure of whether the zed could actually move or not at that point. The zombie made deep, guttural raspy noises, which made Janessa move on. She didn’t want to stay and see if that zed could actually end breaking from its icy prison and move.

Trekking through the snow, the woman made her way through the suburbs and to the forest. Unsure of what she would find, Janessa was on constant alert because the apocalypse always provided danger no matter how prepared she thought she was. As the snow crunched under her feet and the birds led their symphony, the woman could only hope that she would make it to her destination alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooo boy. It's been a minute! My classes have been suffocating me as usual, but hopefully with Thanksgiving break approaching I can do some more writing. So yeah this series has been fun for me so far and I have the intentions to continue it, even though writing a chapter takes me a while. Feel free to leave some feedback, comments, or whatever. As always, thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Okay.So. I said I was gonna do it, so here it is. I'll keep posting for this series and I hope to get to decent support on it, but if I don't that's okay. I just wanted to try something new. (I hope that my writing has gotten better since I started.) To whoever's reading this, feel free to leave some feedback, criticism, and/or support. As always, thanks for reading!
> 
> P.S. I hope that someone catches the reference in the chapter title!


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